


Étonnement

by Miaschyx



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: BPS Event, Christmas Fluff, Gen, M/M, Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:01:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22028263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miaschyx/pseuds/Miaschyx
Summary: Waking up that morning had been the worst feeling, realizing he was alone whilst everyone else was together with loved ones, enjoying their Christmas day. He brushes off the hollowness and reasons, “I’ll just pay them a visit when the weather is better. They’re sending my presents through the mail.”“Still, it’s a bit—it’s—it’s sucky that you’re spending Christmas all alone.”
Relationships: Evan | VanossGaming/Jonathan | H2ODelirious
Comments: 6
Kudos: 118





	Étonnement

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EchoSherry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EchoSherry/gifts).



> Silly Rio forgot to include himself in the Secret Santa, so I did this for him as a surprise. I swear, the only time I write short things is for events. Everything else I write is just _way too fucking long._

“So, plans?” The fire thrums, emitting warmth and light from gas-fueled flames. “You gonna spend it with Luke or family?”

“Luke normally joins us for Christmas,” he answers. _“He has Christmas Eve with his parents and comes to mine for breakfast and then my family’s place for lunch.”_

After swallowing a mouthful of coffee, Evan’s quick to respond, “Busy busy. I’m assuming you got a day off? No recordings to do?” Shuffling fills the line and he waits a few seconds before asking, “Jon?”

_“Nope! I’m takin’ a li’l—like, a li’l holiday, yeah?”_ Wind whistles through the call before being blocked out. _“Sorry for background noise, I’m gettin’ on a bus.”_

“What, don’t wanna drive over yourself?” he teases. “Or are you planning on getting hammered?” A short giggle comes from his friend, something that warms Evan’s chest more than his drink. He gets comfortable in his seat and says, “I’m having a chill day to myself, jus’ gonna relax and watch a movie or somethin’.”

A disgruntled hum reaches his ear. _“Yeah, did you get your money back?”_

“Mhm, sure did. Weather’s not gonna lighten up soon, so they gave me a full refund for my flight.” Evan tips his head to stare out the window, snow billowing and blanketing the ground in white. His voice gains a clinical tone when he elaborates, “My family understands and told me not to worry.” He felt horrible not being able to stay with them. Waking up that morning had been the worst feeling, realizing he was alone whilst everyone else was together with loved ones, enjoying their Christmas day. He brushes off the hollowness and reasons, “I’ll just pay them a visit when the weather is better. They’re sending my presents through the mail.”

_“Still, it’s a bit—it’s—it’s sucky that you’re spending Christmas all alone.”_ There’s a hint of… _something_ in his voice, concerned but determined. Evan can’t decipher it. The cushions shift. A cat bounds onto the couch next to him. Evan gives her a quick pet and smiles, tucking himself up on the cushions.

He shrugs as if Jonathan could see him and reassures, “It’s alright, I don’t mind being by myself.”

It’s a half-truth. He’d rather spend his day with his friends and family, surrounded by presents, chatter, and food. Instead of a family roast last night, he had macaroni cheese and Coke. Evan doesn’t really understand the point to putting on a show if it’s just him. He’d almost forgotten to put up his tree, only remembering to grab out the synthetic thing from its box not even a few days before Christmas Eve. It’s not like he has many friends in person nearby. They’re all busy with their own families.

Evan sighs, finding his eyes heating as he closes them. Resignation seeps into his words when he states, “I’ll just relax in front of the fire for the day.”

_“Jealous, I don’t got—I don’t have a fire,”_ Jonathan admits. An electronic bell dings on the other side, someone signalling for a stop. _“I have a heater back at home that—It’s nice and warm.”_

“Back at home?” Evan repeats. “What, you staying at your family’s place for a while?”

_“Well, if I’m not at home, it doesn’t—it makes **sense** to say **‘back at home’** ,”_ he reasons. A puff of air huffs through, followed by a muffled, _“No—Ah—No worries, you go.”_ Evan waits patiently, not wanting to interrupt, until Jonathan asks, _“What’re you doin’ right now?”_

“Coffee,” he hums, taking another sip, slurping until he hears Jonathan’s laugh. “Thinkin’ of watching Home Alone since it’s the best Christmas movie ever.”

_“Elf is pretty good too,”_ Jonathan counters. Evan grunts with confusion. _“Will Ferrel’s in it,”_ Jonathan continues, attempting to win his friend over.

The contents of his cup swirl in his hands when he responds, “Damn, my weakness, middle-aged white-guys. Guess I’m gonna _have_ to watch it now.” Evan sets his drink aside, chuckling as his cat drops onto his lap and gets comfortable. “Is it on Netflix?” he asks, pulling his phone up to open the app.

_“Uhhh, maybe? Possibly. Probably. It’s Christmas, course it’s gonna be on Netflix.”_ Evan winces at the squeal of brakes and hears Jonathan giving his thanks to the bus driver before cursing, _“Augh, fuck, I hate this snow!”_

“Oh, it’s snowing there too?” Evan questions, switching to the weather app. He has Jonathan’s city saved so he can know what’s happening. It’s a little confusing to see it’s sixty-seven degrees. “Huh.”

_“No, uh, yeah, stupid snow, eheh.”_

Evan figures his app must be faulty and goes back to Netflix, finding the Elf movie with ease. “So, is this gonna put me to sleep?” he queries, reading the summary. “I feel like I’d enjoy Home Alone more than this.”

_“Well, at least you can say you watched it once,”_ Jonathan reasons, scratchy-sounds billowing into the microphone. _“Ahh, sorry, it’s **windy!** ”_

“Don’t get blown away, yeah?” He casts the movie to his TV, waiting for it to turn on and allowing it time to buffer. For now, Evan grabs his almost-finished cup of coffee and downs it whilst listening to Jonathan struggling with the weather. “Where you headin’?” he asks.

_“Huh?”_ Evan repeats his question a little louder and slower. _“Oh! Just a friend’s, yeah? Gonna surprise him for Christmas.”_

Evan sets his empty mug aside in favor of reaching down to pet his cat, her purr growing in response to the gentle touches. “Aw, sweet, he’s gonna be so happy to see you, man.” Evan hums and perks up, voice brightening as he asks, “Oh, did my present arrive yet?”

_“Yeah!”_ The excitement in his tone puts a grin on Evan’s lips even though Jonathan can’t see it. _“Now I can rock my special Rynx tee. Luke tried to steal it, but I told him it wouldn’t fit him and he backed off.”_ He can’t help but chuckle at the thought of his friend being possessive of his gift and wearing it with pride, wearing _Evan’s_ merch.

“Yeah, well, it’s one-of-a-kind. You’re lucky it came early; I’m still waiting on yours.” Evan grimaces at the sound of wind howling and rattling against his windows. His voice droops with disdain when he says, “This stupid weather’s prolly keeping it at the parcel processing place or wherever they keep presents. Did you send it in time to beat the Christmas rush?”

_“Yep, don’t worry! It’ll be arriving today.”_

Evan perks up at that, humming. “You tracking it or somethin’?”

_“Yuh—Yeah! Yeah, tracker, package tracking, it says it’ll get delivered today.”_ His voice lowers, quieter. Evan figures he might be around people and not want their conversation heard.

He’s about to ask how far he has to travel to get to his friend’s place when his doorbell rings. “Oh, uh, hang on, I have someone at my door,” he says into the receiver, shooing his cat from his lap and getting to his feet.

_“I’ll leave you to it. See you, Vanoss!”_

The line goes silent. Evan blinks down at the finished call in confusion. He normally doesn’t disappear so quickly; their conversations can last hours if they’re not busy. It’s…a little upsetting, but Evan just assumes he’s almost at his friend’s place and leaves it be.

A silhouette falls against the glass of his door as Evan circles the couch. He looks through the peephole and spots a man standing there holding a present. The guy brushes snow out of his hair before wrapping his hand around the strap of his backpack and looking off to the side. Evan worries a fan may have found his address, only to reassure he’s posted nothing online that could have potentially doxxed himself. What if it’s a neighbor…

He unlocks the door and pulls it open, blinking as he questions, “Hey, is that for me?”

“Ah”—Evan quirks an eyebrow at the familiar tone—“Merry Christmas, Vanoss!” he crows out— _Delirious_ crows out. Evan blinks at him, lips parted, staring at the present being pushed towards him. “Uhm, surprise?” He takes a second to look him over, mouth spreading into a smile; he looks nothing like he ever imagined, but no one really lives up to expectations. Evan can honestly admit that he looks better in person than in his head. “Do you—Are you gonna take your—your gift?”

“Shit, ah, uhm.” He fumbles with his words and hands when he takes the box. “Whoa, uh…Holy shit, hi?”

“Hey! Sorry I didn’t—I should’ve told you I was coming but the flights and stuff and all that, y’know.” He giggles, a shrug to go with it, uncertain how to respond, flustered and embarrassed.

Either way, Evan smiles at him and steps back, waving him in. “C’mon, you’re gonna freeze out there,” he states, waiting for Jonathan to step past him to shut the front door. “Go warm up by the fire,” he suggests, placing down the present on the couch. Evan asks, “You caught public transport to my place? Why not an Uber?”

“I don’t want random people recognizing me in their car. Then they’ll know where you live,” Jonathan reasons, ruffling his inky hair to get rid of the snow stuck in it.

He perks up at the sight of Evan’s cat, smiling and leaning closer to let her sniff at his hands before petting her.

Evan nudges him and says, “Go, go, warm up, you’re gonna freeze. It’s cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.”

“What does that even _mean?_ ” he laughs, shaking his head but allowing Evan to shuffle him over to the fireplace to heat himself in front of the flames. Jonathan sets his backpack down on the floor against the wall beside the Christmas tree adorned with minimal decorations and colorful tinsel. Evan wanders over and finds Jonathan lighting up. A cheeky tone slips into his words when he inquires, “Am I a good Christmas present or what?”

“Yeah, the best, Jon,” he admits, unable to hide the smile on his face. He hesitates, gaze flickering to the side before he asks, “Uh, is it cool if I hug you?”

Jonathan laughs.

Arms are quick to wrap around him, tugging him into an embrace.

“Course you can,” he says without a single hint of doubt. Evan squeezes him and makes a point of dragging him into the air until Jonathan yells, “Hey, hey! Don’t drop me!” He’s still chilly from the wind and snow outside, clothes slightly damp.

“I can’t believe you came all the way out here,” Evan mumbles, shaking his head in disbelief. He places Jonathan down on his feet and steps back, smiling at the other’s reddened cheeks and nose. “How did you get here?”

“Bus,” he states, rubbing at his hair. “Many busses. My neck still hates— _hurts_ from falling asleep on it. It was suuuch a long trip.”

Evan chuckles and nods. “Yeah, what, three days?” Jonathan grumbles his affirmation, shrugging with one shoulder as he crouches down in front of the fire to warm up. “No wonder you were so hard to get ahold of, data woulda been patchy, right?”

“I once tried to call Luke and it kept dropping out of range so I just gave up,” Jonathan informs him. “It had free WiFi on the bus, so that was—that was good! I could still message through twitter and Skype. All I really had to entertain me was, uh, was, like, my laptop and my phone.” When he next looks up, the lighting from the fire only covering half of his face, Evan can see a mix of relief, happiness, and a bone-deep tiredness. “Worth it though. I been meaning to work up the guts to come and—come see you and figured I should get it done sooner than later.”

Evan laughs and crouches down beside to him to say, “Yeah, well, perfect time for it. You got me all to yourself for the next week-ish.”

He’s answered by a bright, cheery grin and a high, airy laugh. His chest swells with warmth, unrelated to the fire beside them.

“Go open your present, silly,” Jonathan tells him, jutting his head over at the gift-wrapped box. “I brought that so—I brought it all the way across with me for you.”

“Such lengths, amazing, what would I do without you?” Evan teases, scooting himself towards the couch to grab the present, bringing it back closer to Jonathan as he unwraps it. “If it’s not a giant owl, I’ll be _super_ disappointed.”

“Well, uh, prepare for disappointment!”

He’s not disappointed at all.

Evan peers down at the collection of presents. He takes his time dragging them out and setting them beside himself. Headphones which have _‘Rynx’_ engraved on the sides; one of his own H2ODelirious Youtooz figures; a matching scarf, a pair of mittens, and a beanie; a mug with the Urban Dictionary definition of _‘ Vanoss’_ on it; and a new co-op FPS he’s unfamiliar with but recognizes the studio developer.

“You should know,” Evan warns him as he places the empty box aside, “now that you’re here, you can’t run away from my hugs.”

Jonathan can only laugh as he says, “You’re gonna kill me by squeezing me to death.” Evan holds his arms up in preparation and Jonathan is quick to scramble to his feet. “Only if you’re—Only if you catch me first!” he announces as he takes off.

Evan tries to follow, but his socked feet slip on the wood. It’s enough of a stumble to give Jonathan a head start. Either way, his heart beats loud in his ears and a bright grin spreads across his face—he knows it won’t leave until Jonathan does.

It’s the best Christmas present he’s ever received.

**Author's Note:**

> Yo, thanks for reading!


End file.
